Top Ten Most Important Concepts For A New Reefer To Grasp

[Criminal#58369]

Great tips for beginners.

[happy_valley]

perfect job matt=^)

cant thank you enough for thinking about an eye-opener for starters! you will either save people a lot of money or most importantly, the species involved....thanx a million!

happy_valley

[mhhauser321]

To:happy_valley and Criminal#58369

Thanks I am Glad that this Helped you,


Some Other things I have found that helped me get a better start in this hobby.

I used to be so amazed at the Tank Of The Month that reef central has, and I am still am but one thing that pointed me in the right direction was these TOTM.

If you read the descriptions and all the information given you can learn some valuable things.

Go Here (Tank of the Month) and you will find tons of these, I used to spend plenty of time checking these out they really helped.


For Lots of information about Coral Taxonomy which was always something I thought was important to learn visit this website (WetWebs Coral Taxonomy Info)and you will be sure to be stuck there for at least one week.

Don't worry after a while it will all seem to come together and this stuff won't seem so hard.

One thing you should know about taxonomy is that from a hobbyist point of view knowing the exact species of any coral can be very hard to do, so at best I always look for just a Genus identification

For this little tid bit Of advice I refer you to this article which discuss some of the reasons why this is so true.

Need Help! Coral ID? Taxonomy Of Stony Corals

Another Helpful Link Is this Primer that talks about things you can do to protect your tank against its own eventual demise.

Safeguarding Your System from Meltdown Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

More Information That Could Help. Clean Up Crews Something I don't know tons about but These little guys are very important.

Try this article its very well organized it should help you learn about CLEAN UP CREWS

Clean Up Review

by Scott Zachow


Lots Of info So I have to say that if this information in any way upsets anyone I am sorry, My sole intent here is to help people so please don't be bashing me.

Thanks

Matt

[mhhauser321]

Try this link It may be Nubish but it works

The Doctors Information Center

matt

[trinitower]

bump!

[mhhauser321]

If you are new and trying to learn about mushroom corals check this link out.


Aquarium Invertebrates

One other link that helped explain a lot of things for me is this explantion of overflow problems by Travis.

Noise Reduction

matt

[mhhauser321]

Got a new one, for all those looking to find information about that certain fish and can't find anything check out this link its very comprehensive.

Fishbase.org

just scroll down and click on search database.

In an attempt to expand the variety of information present on this thread

If the use of the Word"Pod" scares you visit this link and it will help calm you spirits

You Can't Tell Your "Pods" Without A Program...

by (Ronald L. Shimek)

matt

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by mhhauser321
Got a new one, for all those looking to find information about that certain fish and can't find anything check out this link its very comprehensive.

Fishbase.org

just scroll down and click on search database.

In an attempt to expand the variety of information present on this thread

If the use of the Word"Pod" scares you visit this link and it will help calm you spirits

You Can't Tell Your "Pods" Without A Program...

by (Ronald L. Shimek)

matt

I like this one for identification:

http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/1024frameset.htm

[capn_hylinur]

I have alot of useful links on my web site--just have not had the time to update it for a couple of months
www.yags.net

[mhhauser321]

Cool Thanks There is alot of cool links on that website very great for those people just trying to learn.

[mhhauser321]

One thing thats worth adding is that This hobby may be very expensive to start out with and if you go with the good stuff it will be, But The money trail begins to taper down after awhile, If you decide to start cheap your going to end up paying more money in the long run.

Always Start High and End Low

Don't Start Low and End Higher and Higher

matt

[cherubfish pair]

Get yourself a comfortable chair a put it near your tank so you can take some time and enjoy what you and mother nature have done.

I know, this can be difficult when you want to critique your system while you relax, but stop thinking about what new piece of equipment you want or how long it's been since you emptied your collection cup or what ever else is bugging you like something at work or something.

JUST RELAX AND WATCH YOUR REEF!!! THAT'S WHY ITS HERE!!

THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.

[capn_hylinur]

IMO--an absolute must for a reef system is a quarantine tank. Nothing gets put in my main tank anymore unless it spends some time in the qt.
It is great for observing possible diseases, for subsequent treating of them, and for experimenting with tough to get to eat fish.

[mhhauser321]

Thanks a lot: cherubfish pair and capn_hylinur

Quarantine Tanks Are very Important and I am sorry I forgot about them.

Know one who is new to this hobby wants extra problems to deal with such as disease, parasites, sick fish, and many more so we Quarantine, We take the fish or coral and put them in a small non- occupied tank to let things get checked out first before you put them in the main tank. This advent to any aquarium is a great resource for helping your tank become successful.

A very good link here

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure:A Quarantine Tank for Everything

matt

[microphoto]

great info... helped alot

[mhhauser321]

To: microphoto

That was my goal and Its very cool that it helped.

[capn_hylinur]

Originally posted by mhhauser321
Thanks a lot: cherubfish pair and capn_hylinur

Quarantine Tanks Are very Important and I am sorry I forgot about them.

Know one who is new to this hobby wants extra problems to deal with such as disease, parasites, sick fish, and many more so we Quarantine, We take the fish or coral and put them in a small non- occupied tank to let things get checked out first before you put them in the main tank. This advent to any aquarium is a great resource for helping your tank become successful.

A very good link here

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure:A Quarantine Tank for Everything

matt

not only that they are an excellent place to experiment with trying to get fish to eat. Sometimes fish don't eat simply because they are stressed out. This gives a safe quiet place where you can try different foods out.
I learned the hard way by trying different foods out in the main tank---I ended up with cyano from all the uneatten food that was particlulairy appealing to the other fish in the tank.

So many times we tell beginners that the best feeding method is to offer a varied diet but we don't tell them how to establish that so overfeeding, starvation ,algae, cyano, nitrate etc etc problems develop.

IMO the best way is to experiment in the qt tank--if the fish eat something special then include it in the mix you are feeding---I have tangs and anthias in my tank---I soak flakes with extra spirilina for the tangs and frozen drained mysis for the anthias in garlic guard for 5 or 6 hours.
This is a very limited answer but I hope it clarifies my point

[mhhauser321]

One thing I thought was worth mentioning

It goes like this if you go your whole reef aquarium "career" and only follow what people say and what you read then you might have problems.

Let’s say you want to know if Coral A is compatible with Coral B so you research it online and maybe a few other places then you get your answer and everything works out.

It’s so important if you want to be a successful reefer, to not just live from answer to answer. Aquarist especially New aquarist should strive to know "why" Coral A mixes well with Coral B.

This Kind of thinking is why People Have successful 1,000gallon systems in there home

Knowing all the facts and knowing why things happen is a great start for new reefers and it will defiantly send you in the right direction.

Matt

[mhhauser321]

If you like to read articles online than this webstie has a whole bunch of them

Reefshow.com

And IF You want to see a list of clown fish with the latin and common names then this is a great link for that.

Clownfish Chart

Matt